Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable: Say goodbye to the public interest

[unhappycamper]

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-comcast-20140212,0,4158731.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29



The ball's in his court: Tom Wheeler, chairman of the FCC.

Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable: Say goodbye to the public interest
By Michael Hiltzik
February 12, 2014, 8:36 p.m.

Reports are swirling around the media universe that Comcast is prepared to announce, as early as Thursday, a deal to acquire Time Warner Cable for north of $45 billion.

The deal would combine the nation's biggest and second-biggest cable firms. Comcast, already No. 1 in subscribers, would end up with about 30 million video customers, a net gain of 8 million (following a reported commitment to divest 3 million subs). It would put that subscriber base together with its ownership of NBCUniversal -- the network, the film studio and several other cable channels.

Let's get to the bottom line. There's no way this combination can conceivably be in the public interest. The deal is a blunt challenge to the Federal Communications Commission and its new chairman, Tom Wheeler; the question is whether the FCC will fold against the economic and political power of these two behemoths.

As the leading provider of Internet services to American homes, Comcast has already shown that it's not above using its effective near-monopoly on Internet connectivity in its service area to stifle competitors. The FCC slapped its wrist after it was caught engaging in this illicit behavior in 2007, but then inexplicably waved through Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011.

[lostincalifornia]

1. Hopefully, this will NOT be allowed. They stopped the TMobile/ATT deal, and because of that we are

now actually seeing real price competition thanks to TMobile

I cannot see how they would allow this deal to go through

[democratisphere]

2. This mega-monopolistic deal will go through as the .01%ers are driving it

Done Deal = Rising Prices = Screw the Consumer Viewer.

[Demeter]

3. Comcast's crappy service would start shrinking that customer base immediately

If Internet is a natural monopoly, then it must be taken away from for-profit private corporations, and be administered and treated as a public commons and resource belonging to the world. Under international law, it should be considered like the oceans, outer space, the Moon, Antarctica, etc. Without the corruption, of course.

[unhappycamper]

4. Strangely enough, Tennessee already has the fastest internets access in the US:

http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/tennessee-moves-toward-free-education-and-fast-internet-140208?news=852382


Tennessee Moves Toward Free Education and Fast Internet
Saturday, February 08, 2014

With plans to make some forms of higher education tuition-free, on top of already having the fastest Internet service, Tennessee is rebranding itself as a state of innovation and forward thinking.

The Volunteer State created the fastest Internet service in the United States when Chattanooga built “Gig City.” Residents there enjoy Web surfing that’s 50 times quicker than anywhere else in the country, and for less than $70 a month.

The fiber-optic network allows people to download full-length movies in just over half a minute, and has encouraged businesses from other states to relocate to Chattanooga.

“It created a catalytic moment here,” Sheldon Grizzle, founder of the Company Lab, which helps start-up companies, told The New York Times, adding “The Gig” has “allowed us to attract capital and talent into this community that never would have been here otherwise.”

[MrMickeysMom]

5. Well, here I am, this may be the thing that makes me drop em...

Of course, who do I have to go back to? "Xfinity" as Comcast calls it's service, is crappy, true… I was with Verizon's FiOs before that.

Jumping from the frying pan back into the fire…? I guess the bottom line will drive me back to it, cause Verizon is trying to get us back.